Thank you Roda, for this honour and much love and hugs to you and Wifey and your menagerie of critters 🙂

Go visit Roda and see her wonderful photographs and her sunny and positive writing. Whilst there you could pop in to see her friend Linda or she will only get jealous….

Apparently I am unique. ‘Unique’ is an interesting word which has numerous contextual meanings but I trust Roda to mean it as a compliment…

The Rules:

Share the link of the blogger who has shown love to you by nominating you.

Answer the questions.

In the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family, nominate 8-13 people for the same award.

Ask them 3 questions.

Roda’s questions:

What would you describe as your perfect moment?

I have already had a few:

Sunset on the rim of a deep gorge near Aughrabies in South Africa, watching fish eagles hunting on the Orange River below.

Sharing my lunch with a pair of tame Alpine Chough, surrounded by Gentians and Daphne in flower at 3000 metres in the Italian Dolomites with stunning mountain landscape around me and no sign of humanity in sight

Sitting on a hillside in Apulia (Italy again), surrounded by wild orchids, eating fresh strawberries in the sun

The common factor – all of these moments were spent alone, in nature. Even the presence of people I love causes me tension, which stops shared moments from being perfect. Maybe one day it won’t.

Describe the person you aim to be in five sentences or less.

I aim to be kind and affectionate to others, above all else. I want to be at peace with my introversion but also the kind of person that is greeted with truly spontaneous hugs by his friends. I aim to stop being invisible and to reach out when others need help rather than being stuck inside my own head over-analysing things. I aim to be true to myself and not be kept in a box by the expectations of others. I aim to see myself with affection and confidence.

What is the one thing you love most about YOU!?

My wry sense of humour. It makes people smile and I like that.

Even my wife says I am a ‘funny bugger’. Sometimes I sense that she is not being complimentary….

So – questions for my own nominees:

This is always tough but here goes:

1 If you could return to an earlier moment in your life and change direction would you? If so -when would that be and why? What would be the downside?

2 What act of kindness are you going to perform for someone this month? Doing nothing is not an option – so get thinking! The world is messed up and it is time to push back. Even visiting a blogger who is having a hard time and saying hello is something – let us look after each other.

3 What was your favourite toy as a child? Do you still have it?*

* (In case you were wondering – I was born a miniature adult and never really wanted toys or saw the point of them. Nowadays my wife has to drag me away from Lego and Sticklebricks if I find some – maybe I’m regressing? Does this mean the grey hairs are going to disappear? More worryingly – puberty in reverse doesn’t sound much fun)

My nominees – I have excluded anyone I have already nominated for awards, participation is always optional:

Dominique and I met soon after I returned to blogging in August and she is now a cherished friend only a few weeks later. Her quirky humour and her beautifully illustrated style blog are well worth a visit. She has already been nominated recently for the Unique Blogger award (so her participation is doubly optional) but please go and say hello.

The Girl with the Iron Wings only came to my attention recently but is a truly outstanding young lady and the world needs more people like her. Young people like this give me hope.

Pixie Wayne started blogging recently about her battles with anxiety and is a great writer with a kind heart and is also a dog lover! What’s not to like?

Mackenzie blogs about her chronic illness struggles. She is a classic example of someone really nice who really doesn’t deserve such bad luck. Visit her with a hug please.

Nicolle seems to get awards every five minutes so here is another one! Nicolle is, like me, a highly sensitive introvert.

Clarissa is a vegetarian and environmental blogger who seems to like my humour. This is a bit worrying and I hope she gets over it 😉

I am such a newbie!!! This is my third attempt at replying to you, kept showing up on my own post, lol!! Thank you so much, you are the best….honored to be nominated by a talented, funny blogger such as you!! Thanks for putting up with my chattiness!!!:)

Also, thanks for nominating me and for the kind words! Sadly I’ll have to pass because I already accepted the Unique Blogger Award once, but I really appreciate it and will reblog your post as thanks. 😀

Thank you so much Darren. It is an unexpected surprise and I am really touched by your lovely message, especially because you cherish our friendship. Ditto. Quirky humour? Nope, you must be mistaken. I’m just French that’s all. Sorry, nobody is perfect! Thanks again.